The Minnesota Wild will enter the 2024-25 NHL season in a precarious position. They did not qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season after a three-year streak of having done so. A team in that position would usually pivot, improve their team, or commit to a rebuild. Unfortunately, the Wild really aren’t in a position to do any of those things. They’re in a bit of a cap nightmare, but also have too many promising young players to fully rebuild as well.
To see improvement next year, they’re going to have to rely on players who are already on their roster progressing. If the team hopes to find themselves in a playoff spot next year, the Minnesota Wild forwards group must take a step forward. Obviously, all NHL teams need their roster to improve internally, but the Wild have to rely on this perhaps more than any other club in the league. There really are no other options to construct the roster in a better way.
Steps forward can come in several different ways. The two main categories to examine are players on the team who need to make progress, and forwards who have to rebound. Players who need to progress would be young players who show promise but need to take on a greater role with the team. Meanwhile, players who could use a rebound season entails roster players who are established in the league and have contributed in the past, but were not productive last year.
Minnesota Wild Forwards That Need to Progress
Marco Rossi
Marco Rossi is one of the most interesting Minnesota Wild forwards. Last year was his rookie year, and he ended up on the NHL All-Rookie Team. He scored 40 points with 21 goals and 19 assists. This production was good enough to earn him the sixth most votes for the Calder Memorial Trophy. He finished the season with a positive expected plus/minus, and plays a role the Wild need greatly as a scoring centre.
Even with all that said, Rossi has still found his name in many trade rumours recently, calling his future with the team into question. Despite his promise, there are several reasons the Wild may consider this move. First of all, Rossi took longer to arrive in the league than many expected. The Wild drafted the Austrian ninth overall in 2020, and he only made the team for the full season last year. That being said, Rossi will be 23 next season, which still gives him plenty of time to get back on track. Multiple 2020 draft picks have taken longer to develop than expected, and the Wild could be better off giving him one more year to see if he pans out. If Rossi is still on the team next year, Minnesota needs him to progress more than any other player on the team.
Matt Boldy
Matt Boldy will be playing his third full season for the Wild in 2024-25 and has upped his point total in each season since his rookie year in 2021-22. Last year, he finished with 69 points in 75 games. When you look under the hood, this point total is paired with good analytics as well. Boldy compiled 51.9 expected goals for against 37.4 expected goals against for a total expected plus/minus of 14.5. The Boston College product has also shown some proficiency as a defensive asset. He received selke votes in his first full year in 2022-23, and also registered 61 takeaways this last season.
Expecting more out of Matt Boldy almost seems unfair. Thus far, the promising young forward has done nothing but provide solid returns as one of the best Minnesota Wild forwards of the last few seasons. His short-term injury last year even posed significant problems for the Wild as they depend on the forward greatly. But needing more from Boldy comes less from the fact that he hasn’t produced enough, and more from the fact that the Wild were unable to add any real scoring depth in trades and free agency so far. Boldy, a former first round pick, must now make the steps to go from a good young player to a budding star.
Forwards That Need to Rebound
Frédérick Gaudreau
Frédérick Gaudreau had one of the most concerning seasons of any of the Wild forward group last season. The centre saw his point totals drop to just 15 in 64 games while logging a -23 plus/minus. Plus/minus is a stat that is not taken too seriously at the present moment, but it is notable that it was the first season of his career in the negatives. Last season was also the first season of Gaudreau’s career where he registered more giveaways than takeaways. Gaudreau suffered several minor injuries throughout the year as well, which limited his availability. All in all, everything that could have went wrong for Gaudreau did.
Gaudreau’s struggles perfectly encapsulated the Wild’s depth scoring woes as well, as he went from a scrappy bottom-six centre that provided a scoring punch to a player that tallied just five goals. Before last year, Gaudreau put together two solid seasons where he accumulated 82 points in 158 games. This was more than respectable for a player making just $2,100,000 against the cap. He also had rarely had injury issues, so him being hurt several times during the year may have contributed to his poor offensive season. Whatever the reasons may be, Gaudreau must have a huge bounce back season if the Wild hope to make it back to the playoffs.
Ryan Hartman
Among all the Minnesota Wild forwards, Ryan Hartman didn’t have an awful year in 2023-24. He managed 45 points in 74 games, and remained a player they trusted defensively as he started more shifts in the defensive zone than offensive. His expected goals for and against were near even at 38.3 for, and 38.2 against. Hartman serves as a fairly reliable possession driver as well, and possesses versatility as a winger who can reliably step in at centre when needed. Hartman took the most faceoffs of his career in 2023-24, but the results were mixed as he won just 47% of them. The South Carolina native remained a productive member of the team, but they could still use more out of him.
After all, the point totals and analytic stats that Hartman outputted in 2023-24 were his worst of the last three years. Being about a dead even player is not enough for the Wild, especially for a player who makes $4,000,000 against the cap. Hartman’s high watermark season came in 2021-22 where he scored 65 points, by far the highest number in his career. That year was also the year that Hartman had the most responsibility as a centre, taking over 1000 faceoffs for the team. A return to that kind of production would pay huge dividends for Minnesota.
Outlook For the Wild
Recognizing the need for progress and it being feasible are two entirely separate issues. Promising young players can hit snags in development, and players who were dependable can start declines that come with age and injuries.
In the case of Boldy and Rossi, it seems reasonable both can take steps forward. Boldy has shown improvement every single season and has all the tools to continue doing so. There’s nothing in his analytics, body of work, or injury history that give any reason for concern. As Boldy enters the prime of his career, the Wild should have an incredibly productive player on their hands. Rossi is a more interesting case, but the young centre should have the opportunity to play with some of the Wild’s best players. If he remains on the team, he will take steps forward as he acclimates to the league.
Hartman and Gaudreau could be a bit more concerning. They’ll both be playing into their 30s next year and dealt with injuries that contributed to their disappointing seasons. Hartman scored 65 points two seasons ago, but prior to that never logged more than 31. The 65-point-year may be an anomaly and scoring .6 points-per-game could be the expectation going forward. It remains to be seen if Gaudreau can rebound fully, but he will certainly play better than he did last year. He scored on just 4.8% of his shots, by far the lowest of his career. There will be a rebound, but it will be interesting to see how much of one materializes.
With a group of players who are likely to improve for the Wild, there is some optimism the team can make the playoffs next year. They’ll need progression from this set of forwards if that hope is realized.
Main Photo: David Gonzales-USA TODAY Sports
